Dr. Amr Darrag, Secretary-General of the Constituent Assembly (CA) entrusted with drawing up Egypt’s post-revolution Constitution, affirmed that the first goal of officially publishing the first draft of this important document is to inform citizens, canvass their views, find out any problems therein, and engage people in the CA’s work before finalizing the texts of the national charter.

In a televised interview, Darrag said: "The Assembly released the draft constitution so as to hear citizens’ comments before putting it up for a public referendum later. We accept criticism leveled at the CA by the media and individuals who do not wish to see the CA succeed in completing the job of writing the new constitution.

"The Assembly rejects relentless criticism clearly aimed at disrupting or even halting the march of progress, and also the rumors recently circulated in the media, like the one suggesting the Constitution would provide that girls shall be married at the age of nine. This is totally and completely unfounded. The CA never discussed or debated such idea at all. The matter has not been put up for discussion at any time."

Moreover, Darrag pointed that reports circulating in the media about the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) created an atmosphere of tension and mistrust. He asserted that hyped media coverage of this subject cast it all in the most negative light,

while this had already been agreed upon between the CA and the SCC, with all dispute regarding charter articles regarding the SCC completely settled.

Dr. Darrag further explained that differences regarding some articles happened only due to some people rushing to conclusions before fully reading or understanding relevant articles they object to.

"However, after reading and fully hearing proper explanation of those articles, we had broader consensus, within the CA, on all articles as mentioned in the published first draft."